Chechen Mafia

The Chechen Mafia is one of the largest organized crime groups in the former USSR, originating in the Chechyna region of the Caucasus. The Chechens rejected the "thief in law" professional criminal lifestyle of the Russian Mafia and the Georgian Mafia in favor of a tribal organization, seeing themselves as outlaw-heroes. The Chechen Mafia in Moscow was formed during the 1980s, and it was involved in racketeering and the black market; the Mafia forced businesses under its protection to hire Chechens instead of Russians. During the 1990s, the FSB and Russian Mafia allied to oust the Chechens from Moscow, and the Chechens returned home to Chechnya. Chechnya fell into anarchy as a result of the Chechen Wars with Russia, and the Mafia sold guns to the separatists and Islamists; the capital of Grozny had a gun market in the center of the city. During the 21st century, the Chechen Mafia allied with the Mujahideen and al-Qaeda, and it opposed the Russian Mafia and other Slavic groups.